Pro-democracy protesters rally in Hong Kong in July 2020 after the passing of Beijing's controversial national security law, which led to thousands of citizens leaving the city for good. AFP file photo.
US President Joe Biden ordered a two-year extension on Thursday of a programme that allows Hong Kong residents in the United States to stay beyond the expiry of their visas, according to a report by Hong Kong Free Press, which said the move came just before the programme was about to run out and was “likely to add to tensions between Beijing and Washington, already high over Taiwan, trade disputes, and Chinese backing for Russia”.
In a presidential memorandum, Biden said the United States is “offering safe haven for Hong Kong residents who have been deprived of their guaranteed freedoms in Hong Kong,” it said, which refers in part to the repressive national security law imposed by Beijing in June 2020 and the prosecution of many pro-democracy advocates in the years since.
Read the full report: Hong Kong Free Press.
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